US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrives in Kabul on unannounced visit

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday arrived in Afghanistan's capital Kabul on an unannounced visit. Mattis said he would be meeting with President Ashraf Ghani and top US commanders.

Mattis spoke shortly before arriving in Kabul, where security concerns were so high that reporters travelling with him were not allowed to publish stories until his party had moved from the Kabul airport to the U.S.-led military coalition's headquarters. That was the first such restriction on coverage of a Pentagon chief's visit in memory.

The visit is Mattis's second since US President Donald Trump announced last August that, despite his instinct to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, his administration would take a more aggressive approach to the conflict, now in its 17th year.

OneIndia News